Temple and Contemplation brings together for the first ... - ImagoMundi

THE REALISM AND SYMBOLISM OF COLOURS
supra-sensible world {absent from our senses) and in the divine condition
(fi'l-ghayb wa'l-rububiyah)," Learn, that is, to know the gem hidden in the
phenomenon of colour which is accessible to our senses.
Where on the scale of being is our present world situated? Many hadith
have been composed by the Imams on this subject: "God created millions
of universes and millions of Adams, and you are in the last of these
universes, and you yourselves are the adamic humanity of this last universe."
All that we find and sec in our world "descends" from the universes that
precede it. In place of the current term of Correspondence and symbolism
between these universes, our shaykh employs a term of remarkable realism,
the term dhikr, which signifies a calling to mind (anamnesis) or
naming of something. In the current vocabulary of Sufism, the term dhikr
designates the practice of invoking a divine Name until the endless repetition
seals up the soul's energies and produces a state of ecstatic intoxication.
Here, the word has a sense that is more sober and strict. The shaykh
means that in every universe there is an anamnesis {dhikr) of what we
perceive in this world (the word anamnesis here signifying something
similar to "evocation" as it is used in connection with music and painting).
In every universe, each thing, being or state that we perceive in our
universe possesses an anamnesis which corresponds to the state of that
universe. There cannot be a hiatus: it is not possible for a signature to be
situated at such an extreme distance from its Principle that the intermediary
degrees lack an anamnesis of it, that is to say, something that calls
it to mind and corresponds to it. Colours, therefore, possess an anamnesis in
the superior universes over which the Treasures or archetypes have ascendency.
Obviously, however, one cannot know the modality of these anamneses
without a profound knowledge of what they call to mind—that is, the
four possible modalities of every signature. The point is that in these
superior universes, every signature possesses these modalities, but in each
universe the modalities exist in accordance with the requirements imposed
by the particular nature of that universe.
This is the root of the law which requires that we distinguish between
existence and manifestation, a law so rigorous that the Shaykhi School, of
which Muh. Karim-Khan Kirmani was a leading figure, had to remind
the Shiites that it was the basic law of their esotericism, prescribed by the
holy Imams themselves. In affirming the existence of an esoteric hierarchy,
THE REALISM AND SYMBOLISM OF COLOURS
they affirmed the existence of certain perfect Shiites, the Kamilan-i shi'ah. 21
This scandalized the exoteric Mullas, in whose eyes those who proclaimed
the necessary existence of such beings could only be claiming for themselves
the status of "perfect Shiites". But this was not the case: the
Shaykhis, although they were not always understood, responded tirelessly
to this accusation by saying that their affirmation had reference to a
category of spiritual persons in this world but that under no circumstances
did it ever permit the naming of such persons. A spiritual qualification is a
secret between God and his worshipper; it never is and never can be an
exoteric prerogative, worldly, social or profane. The existence of these
"perfect Shiites" is absolutely necessary if the world is to continue to be,
for they are its mystical pillars. Yet though their existence is a necessity,
not only is their manifestation not necessary, but it is precisely their
occultation that is necessary and inevitable under the present conditions
of our world. If they were to manifest what they are, they would eo ipso
cease to exist as such. One might say that they are under the same strict
laws as the knights of the Grail. The esoteric conception of these perfect
Shiites, who are unknown to the majority of men, is in a certain respect
reminiscent of that of the "unknown, secret, just men (Saddiqim)" of the
Jewish tradition; 22 while in another respect it recalls those "unknown
Superiors" of a particular esoteric Occidental tradition, provided that the
word "Superiors" is understood in the metaphysical and spiritual sense.
It should be emphasized that the necessity for the occultation of these
"perfect Shiites" from the eyes of the world is equally applicable to the
divine dimension as "a gem occulted in the human condition", in the
words of the Imam Ja'far. It also applies to the occultation of the "divine
dimension" or the "lordly" aspect of colour, as our shaykh invites us to
contemplate it in the universes that precede that of the earthly Adam. It is
this lordly aspect or "divine dimension" of colour which is necessarily and
inevitably occulted from the common perception of our world. Our shaykh
pursues a characteristic line, on which, unfortunately, we cannot elaborate
here. He presents us with a hierarchy consisting not just of seven but of
21 On this theme, which links up with what is called the "fourth pillar" (rukn-i
chaharum), see En Islam iranien . . . , op. cit., IV, book VI (The Shaykhi School).
22 Cf. Gershom Scholem, 'Three Types of Jewish Piety', Eranos-Jahrbuch XXXVIII,
1969, pp. 346 ff.
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